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Chapter 314: This is a True High Lord!
🕑 Added 2025-09-22 11:20:31 +0000 UTCChapter 314: This is a True High Lord!
Watching Lucan walk away from him, Admiral Justus gritted his teeth. Lucan's words were a complete negation of his abilities and his entire battle plan. It was as if he were being mocked for his incompetence.
"Admiral, what do we do? Do we really have to retreat to the Castellan's Ring as he demands?" an officer at his side couldn't help but ask.
"Go... As per his order, withdraw to the Castellan's Ring..."
Justus desperately wanted to argue and refuse, but Lucan was a High Lord. Even as an Admiral, there was a vast gulf between their statuses. Even if Lucan didn't do anything to him openly, the secret political maneuvering he could deploy after the war was not something he could withstand. He had no desire for his fleet to have its supply lines cut by the Imperium.
And the fact that this fleet had bypassed the Diamor Shield entirely had shaken Justus's original confidence. Nothing was more persuasive than the facts right in front of him.
Lucan, at this point, didn't care what Justus was thinking. Time was too tight. He had to get everything ready before the Tyranids truly began their invasion.
One after another, crates of powersuits were unloaded from the giant transport ships. Mellen had already learned of the effectiveness of these suits in combat from the Cadian after-action reports. Even his own honor guard and some of his elite units already had a few soldiers who wore them. Because this was also part of the Hazeroth Abyss, the spread of powersuits had been much faster than Lucan had anticipated.
Dynasty merchant caravans had already traveled to all corners of the Hazeroth Sector, selling a large number of powersuits as commodities. However, the quantity had not been enough for them to appear in full regimental strength in other regions. And as per his agreement, the Dynasty was providing Guilliman with a massive number of powersuits, which were all being used to arm his Ultramar Auxilia. The consumption of the Ultramar Auxilia had taken a huge bite out of the Dynasty's inventory, which had caused the number of suits in circulation to decrease, and their price in the Hazeroth Sector to skyrocket.
But now, what lay before Mellen was not just a few suits, but nearly three million of them. He knew exactly how much these suits cost. At this moment, the way he looked at Lucan changed again. The gratitude in his eyes was now mixed with admiration, and even worship.
This is a true High Lord! Not someone who just uses the Imperium's resources, but one who brings out his own fortune to protect the Imperium's planets! Those other good-for-nothing High Lords of the past couldn't even be compared to him!
Although this was still a long way from meeting the needs of his thirty million troops, the effect that this number of powersuits would have would be beyond his imagination.
Arriving with them were also a large number of various StarCraft vehicles. When the Dynasty's Tech-priests began to explain the capabilities of this equipment, his existing strategic-deployment immediately gained new possibilities.
Mellen's original idea was to rely on the narrow streets of the hive city to limit the Tyranids' terrifying numbers, turning every corner, every building, and every street into a graveyard. With the addition of this equipment, the power of this plan would be greatly enhanced. The weapons and ammunition that had also arrived had solved his urgent ammo shortage.
One after another, Barracks and Factories were also unloaded from the transports and placed in relatively safe, core areas. They began to use the planet's existing resources to start continuous production.
"Perhaps," Mellen thought to himself, "with these things, we really do have a chance to save the Cryptus System."
Mellen escorted Lucan into his command center, where he began to explain his defensive deployments on the holographic map. A dense network of various defensive fortifications and firing points was marked on it; the entire city had been turned into a giant fortress.
Looking at Mellen's layout, Lucan had to marvel at his leadership talent. A man who could lead thirty million Cadian soldiers was no pushover. Lucan knew his own limits when it came to commanding a battle on this scale.
"Mellen, I am also handing over command of the Raiders I brought with me. The nearly two thousand Astartes of the Blood Ravens, led by Chapter Master Gabriel, will also assist you."
"You're giving me command of these forces, my Lord?"
"Don't be so surprised. I believe that these forces will be of greater use in your hands. No one understands the defenses you've prepared better than you."
"Thank you for your trust, my Lord!" Mellen said, deeply moved. "I will lead the warriors of the Imperium and we will hold this planet!"
"I believe in you, Mellen. And more support will be arriving. According to your observations, how long until the Tyranids reach the Cryptus System?"
Time was Lucan's most pressing concern.
"Three days. Four at the most. Those creatures have slowed down after approaching the system."
"Three or four days... that should be enough."
Lucan then pointed to the holographic map of the star system. "This is Iphix? Is it currently garrisoned by the Vostroyan Firstborn?"
"You know of this as well, my Lord?"
"Mellen, send a signal to them. Have the Vostroyan Firstborn evacuate all human personnel from that planet. Have them join the defense of Asphodel."
"But my Lord, if we do that, won't we be handing the entire planet over to the xenos?! If we leave the Vostroyan Firstborn there, they could draw away a portion of the Hive Fleet and relieve the pressure on Asphodel."
"No, they won't be able to hold out for long," Lucan said. "I have a much better candidate for the defense of that planet."
The candidate Lucan was referring to was the Zerg, led by Kerrigan and Abathur.
Of the five main planets in the Cryptus System, only this one was suitable for the Zerg to develop on. Iphix was covered in a large number of isotope refineries, and the pollution they generated had left the entire planet saturated with heavy radiation, making it unsuitable for human life. But for the Zerg, this radiation, and the materials from the refineries, was the energy they needed to produce more Zerg. As long as they quickly laid down a large amount of Creep, this energy, combined with the larvae and Nydus Worms they had brought, would be enough to gather a Zerg force of sufficient size.
And the massive biomass of the Zerg Swarm would be more than enough to attract the Tyranids' attention and achieve the goal of relieving the pressure on Asphodel. A single regiment of Vostroyan Firstborn, with their limited numbers, would never be able to attract a significant portion of the Tyranid fleet.
When Lucan mentioned the Zerg that had also appeared on Cadia, Mellen had a flash of realization. The battle reports from Cadia could not possibly have omitted the existence of the Zerg.
"I understand. I will immediately send a communication to Colonel Demetrin, ordering him to bring his men and the workers back to Asphodel!"
"Mellen, where is the Planetary Governor right now?"
"The Governor? That parasite is hiding in his underground palace. It looks like he's planning to just turtle in there until the war is over."
"Do you know where the entrance to his underground city is?"
"That, I do know. It's beneath his Governor's Palace. But even if you go to him, my Lord, he will surely find some way to refuse you. He will not bring his troops to join the battle."
"Join the battle?" Lucan scoffed. "I never expected a coward like that to be of any help in our war. He would only get in the way. But I must capture him. That useless governor still has his uses."
"Capture him? What do you need him for?!"
"To pacify the outside, we must first cleanse the inside," Lucan said. "Since the Tyranids are heading directly for the Cryptus System, it means the Genestealer Cults here have already reached a sufficient number. And the most likely place for them to be hiding is in that underground city. If we don't deal with these Genestealers, they will inevitably cause us a great deal of trouble after the war begins. Those creatures know many secret passages and important locations. I am worried they will lead the Tyranids around the defensive lines you've built.
"And the best way to solve a Genestealer Cult problem is to kill their Patriarch. And for that, the captured governor will make the perfect bait."
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ghostsight75
Why one chapter today
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